Pages

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Further thoughts on traditional acupuncture's legacy to the history of Chinese culture

I have recently written
about the importance we should all give to the idea of a personal legacy which
we pass on to others (see my blogs of 24 May 2015 The legacy we leave behind and of 27 August 2015 Transmission of a lineage).I have been made particularly aware of this
after reading a few books in the excellent series about China published by a
very enterprising publishing house, Zed Books (www.zedbooks.co.uk), whose books I would
recommend for those interested in understanding China's position in world history today,
not only for people like me who visit China, but also for those concerned with
world politics in general, as we all should be.For obvious reason I have
concentrated my reading on steeping myself in things Chinese, and the Zed books
I list below have given me much food for thought.Each has changed my perspective on what my
trips to China are teaching
me (I am embarking on my 9th visit in April), and each has made me
re-evaluate my own role in re-introducing five element acupuncture to China.I see more clearly now how this fits into the
general thrust of China’s renewed interest in connecting with its past, as well
as helping me understand more how it wishes to extend its connections with the world
outside its borders.The books on China that I
have recently read are:

Wade Shepard: Ghost Cities
of China

Michael Barr: Who’s afraid
of China?

Leta Hong-Fincher:Leftover Women

Tom Miller:China’s Urban BillionsAnd then there is a further
book which is not solely related to China, but addresses the global
financial world, and has taught me more than any other book I have read about
the historical reasons which led to the 2008 financial collapse, and the
possible trouble now looming over us yet again.It has made me understand the sheer selfishness of politics now, which
contrasts sadly with what I see was what could be viewed as a golden age in
British life in which I grew up, the post-World War years before Margaret
Thatcher’s arrival on the political scene.In those years there really was a
feeling that the whole country was trying to work towards a more egalitarian
country, and the state itself looked
after the weakest as a matter of course, and not, as now, stigmatizing them for
being weak.So my last recommendation
is for another Zed Book is The Global Minotaur by Yanis Varoufakis.He was the Greek Minister of Finance at a time
when it looked possible that Greece
might be able to defy the almighty power of the IMF and the German government
and refuse to cripple its citizens with further austerity, a hope unfortunately
not realized.